Bittersweet
by I wish I wasn't tone-deaf
Summary: To beat the current heat, a winter Fanfic to warm your heart! Eriol and Tomoyo spend New Year's Eve on her rooftop, reminiscing bittersweet memories of their mothers. Pure fluff, slight romance. ONESHOT


WARNING: CHARACTERS TOTALLY OOC AND AU. ONESHOT. NO KISSING, PURE FLUFF. Minor snuggling!

This is a sidestory to a current story I'm typing up, but I haven't uploaded it, yet.  
I just really wanted to make this oneshot because my finger has been itching to press upload!

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Perfectly balancing two cups of hot cocoa, Eriol maneuvered into the lavender room like it was his own. He swerved to the left to avoid another toe injury from the chest at the edge of the bed, ducked the stray television antennae, and shuffled to the right, past two pairs of shoes thrown lazily near the open double-hung window.

"Can you hold this for me?"

Tomoyo turned around and smiled as she received the warm cups from him, which helped her fingers from the biting cold. They were spending their New Year's Eve together on her roof, with permission from her strict father.

She watched Eriol as he groaned climbing onto the roof and joined Tomoyo on the picnic blanket she laid out while he prepared their beverages earlier. She sipped her own cup; satisfied her jacket wasn't the only source of warmth against the end-of-the-year weather. She handed him his warm cup, which he placed beside him. She watched with curiosity as he popped a dark brown bon-bon into his mouth, letting it melt and swivel around in his saliva.

"What are those?" She asked, licking her hot cocoa mustache. She'd seen him popping gold-wrapped bon-bons lately, such as, their Christmas shopping at the mall, while making lemon meringue pie together, and she'd even witnessed him sneaking one into his mouth while she went to fetch his Christmas present in her car, while he waited on his porch. She pouted slightly, as she could feel her heart squeeze whenever she caught him snacking on the bon-bon without ever offering her one.

He sensed her discontent, as he caught the small scowl she held on her face. He chuckled and sucked on the bon-bon into his mouth. He reached into his peacoat pocket, pulling out a gold-wrapped bon-bon. She eyed it with suspicion, before unwrapping it slowly and popping it into her mouth.

"Just let it melt in your mouth." He said, as he watched her nod. Tomoyo felt the familiar taste of dark chocolate and raised her brows and nodded, signaling her satisfaction for its taste, but her face started to scrunch into disgust as she tasted a flood of bitter liquid swim into her mouth, overpowering the taste of dark chocolate.

"What is this?" She grimaced, as the liquid went down her throat and left an even bitter after-taste, but it was soon replaced with the leftover dark chocolate from her tongue and teeth.

"It's rum." He replied, reaching into his pocket for another bon-bon which he placed into his hot cocoa and landed with a plop.

"Oh, Eriol." She retorted, with fake disappointment, trying to hide the smirk that wanted to surface. Spending her whole winter break with Eriol, she was so sure she knew almost everything about him, considering the nights they spent together on her rooftop talking about philosophies on life, love, school, vacuums, chimpanzees, etc., but she still had a long way to go. She made a mental note to buy him a bag of those candies for his birthday.

"Don't worry. I eat it sparingly." He shrugged and drank from his now rum-infested cocoa.

"Sparingly? I see you eat one every time you're around!" She lectured.

He grinned and licked his teeth, "Well, I got hooked on it a couple of weeks ago, when your friend Syaroan held that party for winning the talent show contest. He gave me a whole bag, saying the rum ruined the taste of the chocolate. I didn't bother to offer you one, 'cause I don't think you like that kind of taste. It was originally 38 candies, but by the end of three days, it was gone. But believe me, I eat it sparingly 'cause a whole bag is like four bucks."

"Ah," Tomoyo nodded, happy he was fairly considerate of her, "making it last?"

He took a swig from his cocoa and grinned at her, "Definitely."

She giggled, and stuck her tongue out, running it across her top lip, indicating his brown mustache, which he mimicked her gesture on his own top lip.

"You like the bittersweet taste?" She said, after she shivered. She sipped her hot cocoa but the warm liquid wasn't quite as warm as it was before.

"Bittersweet?" He hummed, "Yeah. It kind of reminds me of my mom, you know. She passed away, but entrusted me with the company."

She nodded, remembering Eriol telling her of his mother, who died from cancer when he was six, shortly after his grandmother passed away, who was the original president of the toy company she left behind. Eriol is the heir of the toy company that Tomoyo's father is currently the president of, so her father is training him to be the next successful president. At first, Tomoyo harbored a deep dislike for him, seeing that he was stealing her position to be the next president and her father's time, but she shifted away from that position once she knew his situation and got to know him better.

She smiled softly as she remembered a similar bittersweet memory. She stretched out her arms behind her head to lie comfortably on the picnic blanket, "Bittersweet, huh?"

He finished the last of his cocoa and lay next to her, watching the night sky above them in the cold, yet cozy silence.

She didn't know why, but she felt like she needed to, even though it was slightly irrelevant, "My mother's birthday was on the thirteenth of October." She said, quietly.

He turned on his side, and rested his head on his arm, waiting for her to continue. He knew all too well that her mother passed away just two years ago, causing her to leave Tomoeda and enter a private, all-girls school in London for her sophomore year. She arrived in Tomoeda for her junior year with a new appearance of confidence and modern, natural beauty compared to the one her peers were used to, isolating her because of her "bookwormish" appearance and behavior. Eriol knew Tomoyo was a girl of many surprises. She seemed to solve her problems on her own without any help from her family and friends, but rather pure determination from her heart and living up to her father's and deceased-mother's values.

Tomoyo sighed, "I snuck into my parents' room again."

Eriol remembered the night, which was just like their current setting, when he and Tomoyo spilled out each others' secrets including Tomoyo's in which she slept on the cushioned wooden bench at the edge of her parents' bed whenever she missed her mother.

"My dad was sleeping soundly when I went in, but when I woke up, my old baby blanket was draped on me and my dad was making breakfast downstairs. I think it's kinda weird 'cause my dad isn't really like that, but it's a nice surprise, you know?"

Eriol chuckled, familiar with her father's seemingly strict behavior, which was his only way of showing he loved his daughter, since he didn't seem like the type to show affection, like hugging, or even a pat on the back.

He exhaled from his nose, "Bittersweet?", referring to Tomoyo's confession.

She hastily sat up to sip her now cold beverage to avoid speaking considering the lump forming in her throat. She nodded, feeling the stinging sensation of her nostrils from trying to repress the tears that were already swiftly escaping. She sobbed faintly, as Eriol wrapped his arm around her. She snuggled deeper into his chest as he laid his chin on her head.

Eriol could feel his heart ache from holding Tomoyo in his arms. He'd do anything to make the grief retreat from her, yet he was only human. He rubbed her cold arm to warm her from the fast-approaching January weather. He glanced at the watch that was currently on the arm holding Tomoyo.

She slightly released herself from his comfortable grip, but with his arm still wrapped around her. She laid her head on his neck as she smiled and mumbled, "Thank you, Eriol."

"You're welcome, Tomoyo, and Happy New Year." He grinned, as she turned around to face him abruptly, while she smiled back, receiving and giving each other their first smiles of the New Year.

She laid her head again comfortably on his neck, "Happy New Year, Eriol."

He slightly sniffed her hair and muttered after a few seconds of silence to add to the lightening atmosphere, "You know you smell like lavender?"

She giggled, feeling his Adam's apple on the crown of her head as he spoke. She replied, "You know you smell like rum?"

"Bittersweet." He chuckled, repeating the mantra of the night.

"Ah, touché." She smiled and giggled once again, slowly falling asleep in his arms, exhausted from her brief crying session and Eriol's serene embrace, which he comfortably retaliated by laying her gently on the picnic blanket, giving up his arm for use as her pillow.

Early morning, Tomoyo's father yawned and walked into his daughter's room to wake her up for his New Year's breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, slightly burnt pancakes, basically all the good stuff that seemed to be bad in his sister's eyes, who lectured him constantly about the dangers of saturated fat and many more.

"Again?" He groaned loudly as he found his daughter and his trainee snuggled together in a wool blanket on the rooftop, while they sleepily woke up.

He reached over on the window and flicked their foreheads, resulting in minor injuries and early morning groans from the two teenagers.

"Breakfast is downstairs, you two." He said briefly, shaking his head, and leaving them alone to recover from whatever happened last night and his dinky, little attack.

_Dumb kids. Have they no shame? They could at least learn something from the last time I caught them like that. Maybe I've been going too easy on them._ He thought to himself and shrugged, downing the last of the bacon, leaving none for the sleepy kids who found their way downstairs, rubbing their eyes.

"Aw, dad! You could've had the decency to leave some for us!" Tomoyo said, wide awake and glaring at her father, who was chewing an overflow of bacon strips in his mouth.

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Remember! This is a sidestory to an upcoming fanfic!

Check out my profile to read the full summary of my upcoming fanfic related to this oneshot!

Review, if you'd like! I accept criticism, praise, suggestions here and there, and french toast!


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